Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Player

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Updated with NOA comments.

By IGN Staff

Earlier this morning in Japan Nintendo officially announced the Game Boy Player, a peripheral that, when attached to the bottom of a GameCube console, enables gamers to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games on a television screen.

The peripheral opens up a library of some 1,400 handheld titles (in Japan as of March 03, 2002) to GameCube owners, according to Nintendo.

The device enables these titles to be played through a GameCube controller on the big screen without the need of a GBA unit. However, using a Game Boy Advance cable, gamers can additionally connect a GBA and use it as a controller to play the software. The cable can likewise be utilized for multiplayer games and data trading so that, for instance, if one player doesn't have a GBA but another does, they can still trade data back and forth between the handheld and the Game Boy Player.

Nintendo has also revealed what seems to be their vision for the product, apart from just allowing you to avoid wasting batteries. "Beginning at the end of this year and continuing on through Spring of next year, Game Boy Advance will see many quality RPG releases such as Pokemon Ruby & Saphire and The Legend of Zelda," comments the company. "This product allows for a new play style where players raise characters at home on their television screen and outside the home use the portable machine to communicate and battle with friends."

"For several years, the video game industry has been pushing forward to new technical frontiers while at the same time celebrating classic hit games of the past," said Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America, in a follow-up statement today. "This new Game Boy Player actually fulfills both desires: it instantly makes your current favorite Game Boy Advance game larger-than-life, and at the same time allows you to see your favorite portable title from a decade ago in an entirely new way."

The GameCube unit will power the Game Boy Player, according to Nintendo. The device will be made available in four different colors in line with the current hues of GameCube in Japan.

Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Player

A price tag of 5,000 yen ($41 US) has been tentatively set for the Game Boy Player, which is set to release in Japan in March 2003 and in the US May 2003.